In anatomy, a natural stoma is an opening in the body, with the opening out from the body, such as the mouth; essentially any hollow body organ can be surgically manipulated into a stoma, if and as necessary. Examples of such organs are the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, ileum, colon, pleural cavity, ureters, and kidney pelvis.
One well-known form of a stoma is a colostomy, which is a surgically-created opening in abdominal wall where the large intestine exits. A colostomy allows the removal of feces out of the body, bypassing the rectum, and to drain into a pouch or other collection device.
A stoma, as explained above, refers to a mouth-like part or opening, and in particular, it can refer to a surgical procedure involving the gastrointestinal tract, the GIT, or the gastrointestinal system, the GIS. The GIT begins at the mouth or oral cavity and continues until its termination, which is the anus. Such a surgical procedure is usually undertaken as a result of, and as a solution to, a disease in the GIT. The procedure involves dissecting the GIT or the GIS, usually between the later stage of the small intestine, the ileum, and the large intestine or colon, hence the term “colostomy”, and exiting it from the body in the abdominal region.
The point of exit is then a surgically created stoma. In order to minimize negative effects, it is preferable to perform this procedure as far down in the tract as possible, as this allows the optimal amount of natural digestion to occur before removing digested food as faecal matter from the body.
Traditionally, the stoma is usually covered with a removable pouching system (attached by means of an adhesive or by mechanical means) that collects and contains the output for later disposal. Modern pouching systems enable most individuals to resume reasonably normal activities and lifestyles after surgery. However, traditional pouching systems still cause a patient some degree of discomfort.
A novel ostomy procedure exists that improves the comfort of the patient by means of implanting an artificial constriction device at a point in the GIT or the GIS. The constriction device can then be operated to open at a point in time which is chosen by the patient or, by, for example, medical personnel, and faecal matter can thus be removed at a point in time which is chosen by the patient or the medical personnel. However, following this novel procedure, the patient will still be left with an stoma on the abdomen. This stoma may exhibit some transpiration or dissemination through the intestinal wall or leakage, mainly of fluid matter from the mucosa wall of the intestine, which has been the subject of the ostomy procedure.